Xherdan Shaqiri offers Puma some business advice.

Xherdan Shaqiri (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What he said:

“I hope Puma don’t make condoms.”

Switzerland’s Xherdan Shaqiri made the most cutting remark of the evening when he said the above following the shredding of four team-mates’ jerseys during a group game with hosts France at this year’s European Cup.

Admir Mehmedi, Breel Embolo, Blerim Dzemaili and Granit Xhaka all lost their shirts—literally—in their goalless draw in Lille.

Xhaka had to change shirts twice.

Former England World Cup hero Gary Lineker was equally scathing on Twitter indicting German industry.

This is not the first time the Swiss encountered problems with their Puma tees.

Breel Embolo lost his top in a friendly against Montenegro.

He said:

“We have had a few problems with the jersey. The kit manager is not fully ready yet, but we are.”

Puma responded:

“There was one batch of material, where yarns had been damaged during the production process, leading to a weakening in the final garment. This can happen, if the combination of heat, pressure and time is not properly controlled in the manufacturing process. All federations have confirmed that they never had any such issues and are very happy with quality, functionality and design of their jerseys.”

Puma supplies shirts to Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland and Slovakia.

Its home rival Adidas was  also targeted when its ‘Beau Jeu’ ball designed especially for Euro 2016 burst open in the same match.

Adidas said:

“We are looking into what happened. Incidents of this nature are extremely rare.

The reason for the tear has not yet been identified, but Beau Jeu [the tournament ball] has been widely praised by respected experts for its contribution to the exciting start to the tournament.”

What Shaqiri really meant:

“A tear—at the wrong time—makes nine.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“I’ll opt for double protection the next time I play—I’ll wear two jerseys instead.”